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Rig Veda · 912 of 1027
Mandala 10: HYMN LXXV. The Rivers.
1.THE singer, O ye Waters in Vivasvān’s place, shall tell your grandeur forth that is beyond compare. The Rivers have come forward triply, seven and seven. Sindhu in might surpasses all the streams that flow.
2.Varuṇa cut the channels for thy forward course, O Sindhu, when thou rannest on to win the race. Thou speedest o’er precipitous ridges of the earth, when thou art Lord and Leader of these moving floods.
3.His roar is lifted up to heaven above the earth: he puts forth endless vigour with a flash of light. Like floods of rain that fall in thunder from the cloud, so Sindhu rushes on bellowing like a bull.
4.Like mothers to their calves, like milch kine with their milk, so, Sindhu, unto thee the roaring rivers run. Thou leadest as a warrior king thine army’s wings what time thou comest in the van of these swift streams.
5.Favour ye this my laud, O Gan!gā, Yamunā, O Sutudri, Paruṣṇī and Sarasvatī: With Asikni, Vitasta, O Marudvrdha, O Ārjīkīya with Susoma hear my call.
6.First with Trstama thou art eager to flow forth, with Rasā, and Susartu, and with Svetya here, With Kubha; and with these, Sindhu and Mehatnu, thou seekest in thy course Krumu and Gomati.
7.Flashing and whitely-gleaming in her mightiness, she moves along her ample volumes through the realms, Most active of the active, Sindhu unrestrained, like to a dappled mare, beautiful, fair to see.
8.Rich in good steeds is Sindhu, rich in cars and robes, rich in gold, nobly-fashioned, rich in ample wealth. Blest Silamavati and young Urnavati invest themselves with raiment rich in store of sweets.
9.Sindhu hath yoked her car, light-rolling, drawn by steeds, and with that car shall she win booty in this fight. So have I praised its power, mighty and unrestrained, of independent glory, roaring as it runs.
Asked of Guide
Why does the hymn call Sindhu a warrior-king and praise rivers as wealth and steeds?
The hymn portrays Sindhu as a warrior-king to make the river’s physical power intelligible: her roar, speed, and “endless vigour” (verse 3) are cast as martial qualities so listeners grasp her dominance as leader of the other streams (verses 1–4). The poet names tributaries and riches—cars, steeds, gold, raiment—to show the river’s role as both provider and prize, an animate force that brings wealth and commands allegiance (verses 5, 8–9).
This reading follows how Rig Veda imagery often turns natural forces into social figures, like kings or warriors, to map human values onto nature; see other hymns in Mandala 10 that do the same with dawn and Agni. The hymn rewards Sindhu by praising her as conqueror and benefactor, making sacred praise and practical prosperity inseparable.
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